RNC vs. DNC: tale of the tape

Monday

Sep 10, 2012 at 12:01 AM

The voice mail was anonymous, which is not uncommon, as critics often do not reveal themselves. If the caller had left a number, I would have called him back and discussed how we handled coverage in The Record for last week's Democratic National Convention and the Republican National Convention. The caller claimed the we gave more coverage to the DNC than the RNC.

Donald W. Blount

The voice mail was anonymous, which is not uncommon, as critics often do not reveal themselves. If the caller had left a number, I would have called him back and discussed how we handled coverage in The Record for last week's Democratic National Convention and the Republican National Convention. The caller claimed the we gave more coverage to the DNC than the RNC.

Each day we set out to present news pages that adequately reflect objective reporting - except in the Opinion pages, where The Record presents the opinion of the editorial board.

Here's the breakdown of the convention coverage according to my accounting:

The RNC began Aug. 28, as it was delayed a day by Hurricane Isaac. The Record published six stories, including four front-page stories on the RNC, starting Aug. 29, and ending Aug. 31. Those news packages accounted for a total 261.63 column inches.

Day 1 coverage was a two-story package that was both dominant art and the day's lead story. It included a story of Mitt Romney officially being named the Republican presidential candidate and a photo of him and his wife, Ann, who also gave a speech that evening.

The page also carried a story and photo of Ricky Gill, Republican challenger to incumbent Jerry McNerney for the 9th Congressional District seat. On this day we did have a technical error that resulted in the full stories not being included in the print product but were readily available at recordnet.com. Daily total: two stories, two photos and 103.5 inches of space.

Day 2 coverage was a front-page story on vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan. Daily total: one story, one photo, 52.13 inches.

Day 3 coverage was on Romney's nomination acceptance speech with additional stories inside. The story was accompanied by a large photo of Romney but was not the dominant art of the day. However, the story did carry the lead headline. Daily total: three stories, two photos, 106 inches.

The DNC began Tuesday. Starting Wednesday, and ended Friday, The Record published three stories on the convention, accounting for 242 column inches.

The first day of DNC coverage focused on first lady Michelle Obama's speech. It was main art and the lead package of the day. Daily total: one story, two photos and 95.25 inches.

Day 2 DNC coverage was also one story and the lead story and dominant art for the front page of former President Bill Clinton's speech. Daily total: one story, two photos and 84.75 inches.

The final day coverage of the DNC was main art and lead art of President Barack Obama accepting the nomination. Daily total: one story, one photo and 62 inches.

When looking at the pages, it was the second day of the conventions that was the so-called swing day. The Republicans' featured speaker was Ryan. Given the effects of Isaac on New Orleans on the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, we elected to go with that as the dominant art for the front page. A story on Ryan's speech was also on the front page and in a prominent position above the fold.

Love him or hate him, Clinton, a former president and once adversary of Obama's, speaking at the DNC was big news and outdistanced the other stories of the day. If former President George Bush had spoken at the RNC, we would have played that prominently too.

One thing we did miss was publishing a fact-check story on Obama's speech the next day. I don't think one moved in time for deadline for Friday's paper, but we did run a fact-check story on Saturday.

So final count: RNC 261.13 column inches, six stories, including four front page stories; five photos. DNC 242 inches, three stories, three front-page stories; five photos.

So believe it or not, we do try to be fair in our coverage. We have registered Democrats, Republicans and declined-to-state voters in the newsroom. Maybe some Libertarians and Anarchists too. But beyond those affiliations, we try hard to remain objective in our political reporting.

Contact Donald W. Blount at (209) 546-821 or dblount@recordnet.com. The Record senior editors' blog is available at recordnet.com/editorblog.

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